Mozart's Requiem: on preparing a new edition

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This text discusses Mozart's Requiem which was left incomplete when he died on 5 December 1791. The score of his Requiem which he had been attempting to finish, to fulfil an anonymous commission from Count Franz von Walsegg-Stuppach was eventually completed by his pupil and assistant, Franz Xaver Sussmayr on the request of Mozart's widow. Considerable controversy has surrounded the question of how much of the work was, in fact by Sussmayr and how much was filled out from Mozart's original sketches. The author's conclusion here throws doubt on Sussmayr's claims for his own contribution. Maunder has prepared a new edition of the Requiem, which attempts to come closer to what Mozart might have written had he lived to complete it. This present work, dealing with his preparation for the reconstruction, contains detailed arguments concerning the authenticity or otherwise of the movements missing from Mozart's autograph. The author has also written a study of the background to two movements of the Requiem, and of the stylistic comparison with contemporary works of Mozart which has enabled him to propose a reconstruction of certain movements and to isolate with greater certainty the work of Sussmayr.